Nessel visits BBB serving eastern Michigan during Consumer Protection Week

As part of Consumer Protection Week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined officials at the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Serving Eastern Michigan Wednesday to discuss ongoing efforts to equip consumers with information they need to avoid scams.  

“Consumer Protection Week offers an opportunity to highlight the important resources available to Michiganders in the fight against bad actors looking to exploit unknowing individuals for their personal information and hard-earned money,” Nessel said. “I appreciate the partnership we have with the Better Business Bureau to achieve our shared goal in educating and assisting the public. Protecting Michigan consumers remains a top priority for this office.”

“We’re excited that Attorney General Nessel is joining us in our office in Southfield to discuss joint efforts in consumer protection,” Melanie Duquesnel, BBB president & CEO of BBB Serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, said. “Every day, we receive on average about 200 inquiries from consumers looking for information about scams and fraud in our area as well as confirmation about trustworthy businesses. That’s just a small fraction of the consumers and businesses who are unfortunately scammed every year. National Consumer Protection Week is so important because it sheds light on ways consumers can protect themselves.”

This year’s protection week comes amid a spike in prices at the pump. Since the beginning of February, the Department of Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team has taken 61 written complaints related to gas prices. The team is also seeing an increase of calls with questions related to pricing and remains vigilant in pursuing complaints. Thus far, no additional action has been taken.  

One of Nessel’s recent consumer videos, which was released last month focused on price gouging at the pump, highlights gas gouging concerns. She also recently joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 other attorneys general in calling on the Federal Trade Commission to adopt a national rule to target impersonation scams.

The Department provides a library of resources for consumers to review anytime on a variety of topics. Consumers are also encouraged to research resources from the BBB and always report scams to bbb.org/scamtracker.

Consumer complaints can be filed online at the attorney general’s website at www.michigan.gov/ag, or anyone with questions may call 877-765-8388.